The Latest from Cactus Tactical

Friday, October 27, 2017

Weapons of the War in Afghanistan: MANPADS (Surface to Air Missiles), Part II

Weapons of the War in Afghanistan

In the world of war, weapons and technology are ever changing, each war is characterized by the weapons and tactics used to fight it. As new environments and enemies are encountered, the parties to those wars develop new - more effective tactics, technologies, and weapons to counter and defeat their adversaries. The ingenuity seen in war has existed since (and most certainly before) the first wars of recorded history and continue to this very day. Keeping with that theory, let’s take a look at the weapons that have characterized the wars and conflicts that the United States has been a party to over the course of it’s history. During the course of this series, I aim to breakdown the weapons used in each conflict by their classification, and to which party they were employed by. Having served in combat operations in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley, I would like to start our series with the War in Afghanistan.

For our twenty-second installment let's take a look the most common MANPADS, or Surface-to-Air Missiles, in the War in Afghanistan.

Part II - AAF / ACF

HN-5

The HN-5 (Hong Ying-5 "Red Tassel") is a family of first generation Chinese man-portable air-defense systems (MANPAD) based on Soviet technology. The literal translation of Hong Ying is Red Tassel, but HN abbreviation is used to avoid confusion with HY (Hai Ying, or Sea Eagle) series anti-ship missiles of Silkworm missile family. The HN-5 series in Chinese hands has been phased out in front-line and first line reserve units by QW series MANPAD, but still being used by militia units.

The HN-5 is a reverse-engineered version of the Soviet Strela 2 (SA-7). Due to the urgent need for MANPADs, North Vietnam provided China with an original sample during the Vietnam War and asked China to produce and supply NVA with copies. However, due to the political turmoil in China, namely, the Cultural Revolution, the reverse-engineering process was slow and by the time the first small production batch was sent to Vietnam for evaluation, the results were ineffective because American aircraft has already adopted ECM to successfully counter HN-5 and its Soviet counterpart the Strela 2. The dimensions and performance of HN-5 is extremely similar to that of Strela 2.

Blowpipe

The Shorts Blowpipe is a man-portable surface-to-air missile that was in use with the British Army and Royal Marines from 1975. It was superseded by an interim design, Javelin, and later the greatly improved Starstreak.

The missile is shipped as a single round in a storage cylinder/firing tube. The aiming unit is clipped to the launch tube and fired from the operator's shoulder. To reduce the overall size of the container, the rear fins of the missile are stored in the larger diameter cylinder at the front of the tube (this also contains the Yagi antenna for transmitting guidance signals); during firing, the fins slip onto the rear of the missile as it flies through and are held there by heat-activated adhesive tapes. This gives the launch container a unique shape, seemingly oversized at the front and extremely thin at the rear. The missile is powered by a short duration solid rocket for launch, then by a sustainer motor once it is well clear of the launch tube.

The Blowpipe's guidance is initially semi-automatic with the missile gathered to the centre of the sight's crosshairs by the infrared optic atop the aiming unit. Two to three seconds after launch, missile guidance is switched to fully MCLOS mode, and the operator regains full control of the missile. The operator has to steer the missile all the way to its target manually via a small thumb joystick. The operator can opt not to use autogathering when engaging low flying targets such as helicopters, but then has to super-elevate the launcher to ensure that the missile does not hit the ground. Four flares in the tail of the missile make it visible in flight, first to the infrared optic, then to the operator. Detonation is either by proximity or contact fuse. In emergencies, the operator can end an engagement by shutting off the power to the transmitter with the system switch, after which the missile will immediately self-destruct. The aiming unit can then be removed from the empty missile container and fitted to a new round.

Blowpipe was developed as a SAM for submarines, fitted as a cluster of four missiles into a mast that could be raised from the submarine's conning tower under the name Submarine Launched Airflight Missile (SLAM) trialled on HMS Aeneas (P427) in 1972. These were for a time installed on Israeli Gal class submarines.

Blowpipe was used by both sides during the Falklands War in 1982. With the targets being fast flying aircraft, flying low and using the ground to hide their approach, the Blowpipe operator had about 20 seconds to spot the target, align the unit and fire. Brigadier Julian Thompson compared using the weapon to "trying to shoot pheasants with a drainpipe". The official report stated that, of the 95 missiles fired by the British, only 9 managed to destroy their targets and all of these were slow flying planes and helicopters. A later report determined that only two kills could be attributed to Blowpipe: A British Harrier GR3 (XZ972) attacked by Argentine Army special forces (Commandos Company), and an Argentine Aermacchi MB-339 (0766 (4-A-114)) during the Battle of Goose Green.

Blowpipe was found to be particularly ineffective when used to engage a crossing target or to chase a target moving rapidly away from the operator. The poor performance led to it being withdrawn from UK service. In 1986 some of the mothballed units were sent clandestinely to equip the Mujahideen fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan. The system again proved ineffective, and was eventually supplanted by the US Stinger missile. While Blowpipe was available on the international arms market and therefore its origins were open to speculation, the Stinger was restricted, which at the time indicated a more open acknowledgment of Western support for the Mujahideen. Blowpipe missile systems are still being found in weapon caches as recently as May 2012 in Afghanistan.

The Canadian military took Blowpipe from storage to give some protection to their naval contribution to the 1991 Gulf war, although sheer age had degraded the weapons, and nine out of 27 missiles tested misfired in some way. The Javelin GL, which was backward compatible to the Blowpipe, was then hastily purchased as a replacement.

SA-16 Gimlet / SA-18 Grouse

The 9K38 Igla is a Russian/Soviet man-portable infrared homing surface-to-air missile (SAM). "9K38" is the Russian GRAU designation of the system. Its US DoD designation is SA-18 and its NATO reporting name is Grouse; a simplified, earlier version is known as the 9K310 Igla-1, or SA-16 Gimlet.

The development of the Igla short-range man-portable air defense system (MANPADS) began in the Kolomna OKB in 1972. Contrary to what is commonly reported, the Igla is not an improved version of the earlier Strela family (Strela-2 and Strela-3), but an all new project. The main goals were to create a missile with better resistance to countermeasures and wider engagement envelope than the earlier Strela series MANPADS systems.

Technical difficulties in the development quickly made it obvious that the development would take far longer than anticipated, however, and in 1978 the program split in two: while the development of the full-capability Igla would continue, a simplified version (Igla-1) with a simpler IR seeker based on that of the earlier Strela-3 would be developed to enter service earlier than the full-capability version could be finished.

The 9K310 Igla-1 system and its 9M313 missile were accepted into service in the Soviet army on 11 March 1981. The main differences from the Strela-3 included an optional Identification Friend or Foe system to prevent firing on friendly aircraft, an automatic lead and super elevation to simplify shooting and reduce minimum firing range, a slightly larger rocket, reduced drag and better guidance system extend maximum range and improve performance against fast and maneuverable targets, an improved lethality on target achieved by a combination of delayed impact fuzing, terminal maneuver to hit the fuselage rather than jet nozzle, an additional charge to set off the remaining rocket fuel (if any) on impact, an improved resistance to infrared countermeasures (both decoy flares and ALQ-144 series jamming emitters), and slightly improved seeker sensitivity.

The seeker has two detectors – a cooled MWIR InSb detector for detection of the target and uncooled PbS SWIR detector for detection of IR decoys (flares). The built-in logic determines whether the detected object is a target or a decoy. The latest version (Igla-S) is reported to have additional detectors around the main seeker to provide further resistance against pulsed IRCM devices commonly used on helicopters.

The 9M313 missile features an aerospike mounted on a tripod (Igla's 9M39 missile has aerospike attached directly to the seeker dome), which reduces a shock wave, thus providing less dome heating and greater range. The name Igla is derived from these devices.

Like many other MANPADS, Igla-1 and Igla feature so-called rolling airframe missiles. These missiles roll in flight (900 – 1200 rpm) so steering the missile requires just a single pair of control surfaces, unlike roll-stabilized missiles, which require separate control surfaces for pitch and yaw. Both 9M313 and 9M39 missiles contain a gas generator, which drives a small gas turbine to provide electrical power, and the pistons, which move the canards used to steer the missile in a bang-bang mode. In addition to that, two exhaust tubes of the gas generator are placed perpendicular to the steering canards to provide maneuverability immediately after launch when the missile airspeed is too low for canards to be effective. Later versions of Igla are reported to use proportional control to drive the canards, which enables greater precision and less oscillation of the flight path.

According to the manufacturer, South African tests have shown the Igla's superiority over the contemporary (1982 service entry) but smaller and lighter American FIM-92A Stinger missile. According to Kolomna OKB, the Igla-1 has a Pk (probability of kill) of 0.30 to 0.48 against unprotected targets which is reduced to 0.24 in the presence of decoy flares and jamming. In another report, the manufacturer claimed a Pk of 0.59 against an approaching and 0.44 against receding F-4 Phantom II fighter not employing infrared countermeasures or evasive maneuvers.

The full-capability 9K38 Igla with its 9M39 missile was finally accepted into service in the Soviet Army in 1983. The main improvements over the Igla-1 included much improved resistance against flares and jamming, a more sensitive seeker, expanding forward-hemisphere engagement capability to include straight-approaching fighters (all-aspect capability) under favourable circumstances, a slightly longer range, a higher-impulse, shorter-burning rocket with higher peak velocity (but approximately same time of flight to maximum range).

The naval variant of 9K38 Igla has the NATO reporting name SA-N-10 Grouse.

Monday, October 02, 2017

Weapons of the War in Afghanistan: MANPADS (Surface to Air Missiles), Part I

Weapons of the War in Afghanistan

In the world of war, weapons and technology are ever changing, each war is characterized by the weapons and tactics used to fight it. As new environments and enemies are encountered, the parties to those wars develop new - more effective tactics, technologies, and weapons to counter and defeat their adversaries. The ingenuity seen in war has existed since (and most certainly before) the first wars of recorded history and continue to this very day. Keeping with that theory, let’s take a look at the weapons that have characterized the wars and conflicts that the United States has been a party to over the course of it’s history. During the course of this series, I aim to breakdown the weapons used in each conflict by their classification, and to which party they were employed by. Having served in combat operations in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley, I would like to start our series with the War in Afghanistan.

For our twenty-second installment let's take a look the most common MANPADS, or Surface-to-Air Missiles, in the War in Afghanistan.

Part I - AAF / ACF

FIM-92 Stinger

The FIM-92 Stinger is a Man-Portable Air-Defense System (MANPADS) that operates as an infrared homing surface-to-air missile (SAM). It can be adapted to fire from a wide variety of ground vehicles and helicopters. Developed in the United States this weapon system entered service in 1981 and is used by the militaries of the United States and 29 other countries. It is principally manufactured by Raytheon Missile Systems and is produced under license by EADS in Germany and by Roketsan in Turkey with 70,000 missiles produced.

Light to carry and easy to operate, the FIM-92 Stinger is a passive surface-to-air missile, that can be shoulder-fired by a single operator (although standard military procedure calls for two operators, spotter and gunner). The FIM-92B missile can also be fired from the M-1097 Avenger and the M6 Linebacker. The missile is also capable of being deployed from a Humvee Stinger rack, and can be used by airborne troops. A helicopter launched version exists called Air-to-Air Stinger (ATAS).

The missile is 5.0 ft long and 2.8 inches in diameter with 10 cm fins. The missile itself weighs 22 lbs, while the missile with launcher weighs approximately 34 lbs. The Stinger is launched by a small ejection motor that pushes it a safe distance from the operator before engaging the main two-stage solid-fuel sustainer, which accelerates it to a maximum speed of Mach 2.54 (750 m/s). The warhead is a 3 kg penetrating hit-to-kill warhead type with an impact fuze and a self-destruct timer.

To fire the missile, a BCU (Battery Coolant Unit) is inserted into the handguard. This shoots a stream of argon gas into the system, as well as a chemical energy charge that enables the acquisition indicators and missile to get power. The batteries are somewhat sensitive to abuse, with a limited amount of gas. Over time, and without proper maintenance, they can become unserviceable. The IFF system receives power from a rechargeable battery. Guidance to the target is initially through proportional navigation, then switches to another mode that directs the missile towards the target airframe instead of its exhaust plume.

SA-7 Grail

The 9K32 Strela-2 (NATO reporting name SA-7 Grail) is a man-portable, shoulder-fired, low-altitude surface-to-air missile system (MANPADS) with a high explosive warhead and passive infrared homing guidance. Broadly comparable in performance with the US Army FIM-43 Redeye, it was the first generation of Soviet man-portable SAMs, entering service in 1968, with series production starting in 1970.

Described by one expert as being "the premier Russian export line",the Strela and its variants have seen widespread use in nearly every regional conflict since 1968.

The missile launcher system consists of the green missile launch tube containing the missile, a grip stock and a cylindrical thermal battery. The launch tube is reloadable at depot, but missile rounds are delivered to fire units in their launch tubes. The device can be reloaded up to five times.

The manufacturer lists reaction time measured from the carrying position (missile carried on a soldier's back with protective covers) to missile launch to be 13 seconds, a figure that is achievable but requires considerable training and skill in missile handling. With the launcher on the shoulder, covers removed and sights extended, reaction time from fire command to launch reduces to 6–10 seconds, depending greatly on the target difficulty and the shooter's skill.

After activating the power supply to the missile electronics, the gunner waits for electricity supply and gyros to stabilize, puts the sights on target and tracks it smoothly with the launch tube's iron sights, and pulls the trigger on the grip stock. This activates the seeker electronics and the missile attempts to lock onto the target. If the target is producing a strong enough signal and the angular tracking rate is within acceptable launch parameters, the missile alerts the gunner that the target is locked on by illuminating a light in the sight mechanism, and producing a constant buzzing noise. The operator then has 0.8 seconds to provide lead to the target while the missile's on-board power supply is activated and the throw-out motor ignited.

Should the target be outside acceptable parameters, then the light cue in the sight and the buzzer signal tell the gunner to re-aim the missile.

On launch, the booster burns out before the missile leaves the launch tube at 32 m/s and rotating at c. 20 revolutions per second. As the missile leaves the tube, the two forward steering fins unfold, as do the four rear stabilizing tail fins. The self-destruct mechanism is then armed, which is set to destroy the missile after between 14 and 17 seconds to prevent it hitting the ground if it should miss the target.

Once the missile is five and a half meters away from the gunner, c. 0.3 seconds after leaving the launch tube, it activates the rocket sustainer motor. The sustainer motor takes it to a velocity of 430 meters per second, and sustains it at this speed. Once it reaches peak speed, at a distance of around 120 meters from the gunner, the final safety mechanism is disabled and the missile is fully armed. All told, the booster burns for 0.5 second and the driving engine for another 2.0 seconds.

The missile's uncooled lead sulphide passive infra-red seeker head detects infrared radiation at below 2.8 μm in wavelength. It has a 1.9 degree field of view and can track at 9 degrees per second. The seeker head tracks the target with an amplitude-modulated spinning reticle (spin-scan or AM tracking), which attempts to keep the seeker constantly pointed towards the target. The spinning reticle measures the amount of incoming infrared (IR) energy. It does this by using a circular pattern that has solid portions and slats that allow the IR energy to pass through to the seeker. As the reticle spins IR energy passes through the open portions of the reticle. Based on where the IR energy falls on the reticle the amount or amplitude of IR energy allowed through to the seeker increases the closer to the center of the reticle. Therefore, the seeker is able to identify where the center of the IR energy is. If the seeker detects a decrease in the amplitude of the IR energy it steers the missile back towards where the IR energy was the strongest. The seeker's design creates a dead-space in the middle of the reticle. The center mounted reticle has no detection capability. This means that as the seeker tracks a target as soon as the seeker is dead center, (aimed directly at the IR source) there is a decrease in the amplitude of IR energy. The seeker interprets this decrease as being off target so it changes direction. This causes the missile to move off target until another decrease in IR energy is detected and the process repeats itself. This gives the missile a very noticeable wobble in flight as the seeker bounces in and out from the dead-space. This wobble becomes more pronounced as the missile closes on the target as the IR energy fills a greater portion of the reticle. These continuous course corrections effectively bleed energy from the missile reducing its range and velocity.

The guidance of the SA-7 follows proportional convergence logic, also known as angle rate tracking system or pro-logic. In this method, as the seeker tracks the target, the missile is turned towards where the seeker is turning towards – not where it is pointing at – relative to the missile's longitudinal axis. Against a target flying in a straight-line course at constant speed, the angle rate of seeker-to-body reduces to zero when the missile is in a straight-line flight path to intercept point.

SA-14 Gremlin

The 9K34 Strela-3 is a man-portable air defence missile system (MANPADS) developed in the Soviet Union as a response to the poor performance of the earlier 9K32 Strela 2 (SA-7 Grail) system. "9K34" is its GRAU designation, while its NATO reporting name is SA-14 Gremlin. The missile was largely based on the earlier Strela 2, and thus development proceeded rapidly. The new weapon was accepted to service in the Soviet Army in January 1974.

The most significant change over the Strela 2 was the introduction of an all-new infra-red homing seeker head. The new seeker worked on FM modulation (con-scan) principle, which is less vulnerable to jamming and decoy flares than the earlier AM (spin-scan) seekers, which were easily fooled by flares and even the most primitive infrared jammers. The new seeker also introduced detector element cooling in the form of a pressurized nitrogen bottle attached to the launcher.

The effect of cooling was to expand the seeker's lead sulphide detector element's sensitivity range to longer wavelengths (slightly over 4 µm as opposed to 2.8 µm of uncooled PbS elements). In practice this made possible the tracking of cooler targets over longer ranges, and enabled forward-hemisphere engagement of jets under favourable circumstances.The seeker also had better tracking rate, enabling the missile to track maneuvering of fast and approaching targets.

A negative side effect from the aforementioned improvements was increased missile weight, which caused a slight decrease in the kinematic performance of the original Strela-2 (SA-7). Against relatively slow, low-altitude battlefield air threats the overall effectiveness was much improved.

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Weapons of the War in Afghanistan: Optics, Part IV

Weapons of the War in Afghanistan

In the world of war, weapons and technology are ever changing, each war is characterized by the weapons and tactics used to fight it. As new environments and enemies are encountered, the parties to those wars develop new - more effective tactics, technologies, and weapons to counter and defeat their adversaries. The ingenuity seen in war has existed since (and most certainly before) the first wars of recorded history and continue to this very day. Keeping with that theory, let’s take a look at the weapons that have characterized the wars and conflicts that the United States has been a party to over the course of it’s history. During the course of this series, I aim to breakdown the weapons used in each conflict by their classification, and to which party they were employed by. Having served in combat operations in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley, I would like to start our series with the War in Afghanistan.

For our twenty-first installment let's take a look the most common optics used in the War in Afghanistan.

The PSO-1 (Pritsel Snaipersky Optichesky, "Optical Sniper Sight") is a telescopic sight manufactured in Russia by the Novosibirsk instrument-making factory (NPZ Optics State Plant) and issued with the Russian military Dragunov sniper rifle. The PSO-1 was, at the time of its introduction around 1964, the most technically advanced telescopic sight ever designed for a mass-production designated marksman or sniper rifle.

The PSO-1 was specifically designed for the SVD as a telescopic sight for military designated marksman activities. The current version of the sight is the PSO-1M2. This telescopic sight is different from the original PSO-1 only in that it lacks the now obsolete infrared detector. The metal body of the PSO-1 is made from a magnesium alloy. The PSO-1 features a battery-powered red illuminated reticle with light provided by a simple diode bulb. It features professionally ground, fully multi-coated optical elements, a baked enamel finish for scratch protection, and an attached, quick-deployable, extendable sunshade. The scope body is sealed and filled with nitrogen, which prevents fogging of optics and was designed to function within a -58 °F to 122 °F temperature range. For zeroing the telescopic sight the reticle can be adjusted by manipulating the elevation and windage turrets in 0.5 mil or 1.72 MOA increments.

Considered the higher end of Soviet military side-mount telescopic sights, the quality of the PSO-1 is higher than most other PSO-style telescopic sights. The PSO-1 has neither a focus adjustment nor a parallax compensation control. Most modern military tactical scopes with lower power fixed magnification such as the ACOG, C79 optical sight or SUSAT (intended for rapid close-intermediate range shots rather than long-range sniping) lack such features as well. Modern fixed magnification military high-end-grade sniper telescopic sights scopes intended for long-range shooting usually offer one or both of these features. The positioning of the scope’s body to the left of the bore’s center line may not be comfortable to all shooters.

The PSO-1 elevation turret features bullet drop compensation (BDC) in 50 m or 100 m increments for engaging point and area targets at ranges from 100 m up to 1,000 m. At longer distances the shooter must use the chevrons that would shift the trajectory by 100 m per each chevron. The BDC feature must be tuned at the factory for the particular ballistic trajectory of a particular combination of rifle and cartridge at a predefined air density. Inevitable BDC-induced errors will occur if the environmental and meteorological circumstances deviate from the circumstances the BDC was calibrated for. Marksmen can be trained to compensate for these errors. Besides the BDC elevation or vertical adjustment control of the reticle, the windage or horizontal adjustment control of the reticle can also be easily dialed in by the user without having to remove turret caps etc.

The PSO-1 features a reticle with "floating" elements designed for use in range estimation and bullet drop and drift compensation.

The top center "chevron" (^) is used as the main aiming mark. The horizontal hash marks are for windage and lead corrections and can be used for ranging purposes as well.

To the left is a stadiametric rangefinder that can be used to determine the distance from a 5 ft 6.9 inch tall object/person from 200 m (2) to 1000 m (10). For this the lowest part of the target is lined up on the bottom horizontal line. Where the top of the target touches the top curved line the distance can be determined. This reticle lay out is also used in several other telescopic sights produced and used by other former Warsaw Pact member states.

The three lower chevrons in the center are used as hold over points for engaging area targets beyond 1,000 meters (the maximum BDC range setting on the elevation drum). The user has to set the elevation turret to 1,000 meters and then apply the chevrons for 1,100, 1,200 or 1,300 meters respectively.

The 10 reticle hashmarks in the horizontal plane can be used to compensate for wind or moving targets and can also be used for additional stadiametric rangefinding purposes, since they are spaced at 1 milliradian intervals, meaning if an object is 5 m wide it will appear 10 hashmarks wide at 500 m.

The SPP (1OP50) and SPP-M machine gun sights are designed for aimed firing during daylight hours from the NSV-12.7 and Kord machine guns at a distance of up to 2000 m, as well as at dusk and at night with the reticle illumination on.

The SPP sight was used as a base for development of a higher power sight SPP-M. which, apart from machine guns, can be installed on sniper rifles. The SPP sight for the Utes (NSV-12.7) heavy machine gun was developed by designers L. A. Glyzov and V. M. Kotov in 1972. The main task of the machine gun is to fight soft targets at ranges of up to 1500-2000 m. The sight features variable magnification to meet two conflicting objectives: on the one hand, it is necessary to keep a check on as wide of a field of view as possible (12° at a magnification of 3х), and on the other hand, improvement of the efficient firing range requires a higher power (6 at a field of view of 6°). The magnification is changed by simultaneous movement of the erecting system lenses along the optical axis according to the Saw set by a mechanical cam. Illumination of the aiming reticle and the remote power supply system are arranged similarly to the PSO-1 sight.

To determine the target range, the sight uses the "base on target" distance measuring technique. The ranging scale within the field of view of the sight provides a means to take the range using a full-height figure target (5 ft 6.9 inchs) at a distance of up to 1000 m.

Characteristics:

aimed fire to a distance of up to 2000 m in the daytime and in the dusk with the reticle illumination on;

the sight has a ranging scale and is equipped with halving and elevation adjustment mechanisms;

the sight comes complete with individual, group and repair SPTA sets;

the sight can be used at a temperature from minus 50°C to plus 50°C. The SPP sight was put into service in 1972.

The automatic grenade launcher sight PAG-17 is an optical sight that serves for targeting the AGS-17 grenade launcher when firing at targets at different distances.

The sight of the PAG-17 is intended for aiming an automatic grenade launcher when firing both direct guidance and from closed positions. For this purpose, the sight is provided with a goniometric mechanism and a mechanism of elevation angles for guidance in the horizontal and vertical planes. There are two levels for controlling the roll and the angle of elevation of the grenade launcher. The sight is also equipped with illumination of the aiming grid and scales of targeting mechanisms for aiming at night time.

The sight consists of a body in which a protractor and the mechanism of elevation angles and heads from an optical system are assembled. The body serves to connect all parts of the sight. It has an axis of sight with an oval recess and a pin to attach the sight to the grenade launcher; A bar for fastening the cartridges of the illumination of scales and levels.

The longitudinal level serves to control and deliver the grenade launcher a given elevation angle when firing from a closed fire position. The head of the sight is used for sighting on the target (point of focusing) in it an optical system is assembled. There is an eyepiece on the head; On the left - a sight and a point for direct guidance for grenade launchers in case of damage to the optical system; On top - the base for attaching the lamp holder of the sighting grid; Front on the rim - two screws for fixing the light filter. The optical system of the sight consists of an objective, a prism, a grid, an eyepiece and protective glass. The lens is intended for obtaining images of the observed object. The prism is a wrapping system and serves to obtain a real direct image. The eyepiece serves to increase the viewing of the image of the observed object and the grid. Protective glass protects the sight from getting inside dust and dirt. Through it, the grid of the sight is illuminated. The mesh of the sight is a plate on which the scales of the angles of sight and lateral corrections are plotted.